Amsterdam, The Netherlands, January 21, 2013 / B3C newswire / – Kiadis Pharma B.V., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for blood cancers, announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance for its U.S. Patent Application No. 10/969,011 regarding the Company’s lead product ATIR™. ATIR™ is a cell-based product that enables stem cell transplantations from mismatched donors.

The U.S. patent covers the composition of matter of a rhodamine derivative used in manufacturing ATIR™, all key steps of the manufacturing process of ATIR™ and the therapeutic use of ATIR™ to prevent graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantations. Kiadis Pharma has previously been granted similarly broad patent protection for ATIR™ in Europe.

Manfred Ruediger, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Kiadis Pharma, commented: “We are delighted about the broad patent protection for ATIR™ in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market. This broad patent protection provides a strong basis for future commercialization of ATIR™ to the benefit of patients”.

Denis-Claude Roy, MD, Professor of Hematology at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and the University of Montreal, and Inventor, added: “ATIR™ has the potential to change the current paradigm in allogeneic stem cell transplantation for patients with advanced blood cancers. We are excited that our invention of selectively removing patient reactive cells from a stem cell donation is being developed by Kiadis Pharma to prevent graft-versus-host disease and improve patient outcome”.

About ATIR™

ATIR™ is a cell based medicinal product candidate enabling stem cell transplantations from mismatched (haploidentical) family donors to patients suffering from blood cancer. Stem cell transplantation is the only potentially curative option for many patients but a matching donor is available for only half of the patients in need. ATIR™ thus has the potential to address this unmet need and to make stem cell transplantations available for patients worldwide.

Those T-cells in a haploidentical graft which would cause Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GvHD) are selectively eliminated using proprietary technology to produce ATIR™. ATIR™ is administered as an adjunctive treatment on top of a haploidentical stem cell transplantation enhancing early immune reconstitution without causing GvHD.

In a Phase I/II study with ATIR™, safety and proof of concept were provided in terms of absence of grade III/IV GvHD, reduced rates of infection, reduced Transplant Related Mortality and high Overall Survival.

ATIR™ has been granted Orphan Drug Designation both in the EU and the USA. Together, both regions represent a combined primary market potential of more than EUR 1 billion per year.

About Kiadis Pharma

Kiadis Pharma B.V. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative and potentially life-saving therapies for patients with late stage blood cancers and related disorders, an area of significant unmet medical need.
The Company is collaborating with renowned centers in Europe, Canada and the United States to further develop ATIR™. Kiadis Pharma is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.